Oh My Stars
by Mia X
Summary: What could happen after Winter if Levana was still alive. Much better than it sounds (also has new characters and a ton of drama in the future).
1. Chapter 1

Marina

Marina was an orphan, of a sort. On her own for as long as she could remember, in a way. Scavenging for food and, when times got desperate, _stealing_ food. She remembered one of the boys that she used to play with. She also remembered how he had left her all alone one day, to defend herself. She had been caught, called a thief, but Levana let her off the hook. She had given her everything she had ever wanted. A home.

She remembered when she was on earth, how joyful she had been. Her past was a foggy blur, never to bother her again. She remembered the sea, she remembered how when she swam in it she felt safe, as if it had always been her home. The beautiful creatures she saw were like close friends. She remembered that joyful feeling of being happy for once, and she remembered how that had been viciously taken from her when she woke up in Luna prison and found out that Levana was off her throne…

The floors were damp and gray and the walls were black. There was no lighting, so until Marina's eyes got used to the darkness, she wouldn't have been able to see her hand if she held it up in front of her face. The guard tossed her in a small, dark cell. "You'll be moved into a larger one later," and with that, he left. If she was moved to a different cell, that would be the second time they will have moved her. More people were being put in prison by the day. It was dreadful out there.

Marina was starving. When were they going to bring her food? Soon a tray and water were brought up, but as soon as she saw the mush on her plate, Marina lost her appetite and the water looked as if it had come from the sewer.

Now she was alone with her thoughts. She could finally think. Miarina wondered where the true Lunar queen was.

Levana was the one who let her forget her past and let her go to earth, to the sea. She couldn't even count all of the favors Levana had done for the people of Luna, yet everyone remembered her as an evil witch. Nobody ever did anything to help her. Marina hated the people of Luna for that. They don't know Levana's backstory; they shouldn't judge her.

When Levana had ruled, everything had been like those rumors said they were. No wars. Not one! All had been peaceful. Levana was in hiding now, but she would come back someday, and she would rule again…

Rose

Rose was free. She didn't know what to think. She couldn't even imagine a life outside of this prison anymore. She sat up from her bed as a guard came in. Excitement boiled up inside of her. Once she was free, she would be able to have a life again. She would be able to explore the moon again.

The guard must have seen the hopeful look that had crossed her face, for he laughed at her, and tossed another girl in.

She didn't understand. She was supposed to be out of this cage now. She called for the guard, but apparently since she still broke the law, she was still a criminal. Why had she even tried? She had long before learned that nothing in prison was in any way _fair_. Life was unfair. She turned back to look at her new roommate, and she immediately looked like a threat.

The girl was in nothing more than a bathing suit. She had tanned skin, as if she had spent a lifetime in the sun. She must've been on the run for a while. Long, black hair swept down her back. Rose looked away as she saw her emerald green eyes. Well, not really emerald, a bit bluer than that. And dark, very, very dark…

She caught the girl looking at her and tried to use her glamour to get those eyes off her. Nothing happened. _She must be a shell, _thought Rose. She was immediately disgusted. Not with the girl, but with the guard. With everyone on Lunar.

The girl had probably ended up in prison for no more of a reason than because she was a shell. She hated the way shells were treated. Her mother had been a shell...she _should_ have lived a good, long life… Wait. This girl was in prison, even though she was a shell. That wasn't right. Shells were supposed to be executed, not put in prison.

"Are you a shell?" asked Rose in a voice that she hoped was brave-not weak and terrified, as she _actually _felt.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" she replied, her face completely neutral and impossible to read.

"I just get a funny feeling that you are a shell", said Rose, who was trying to remain strong in front of this mysterious girl. _No need to act weak in front of someone who looks like they could probably snap you in half,_ she thought.

"A funny feeling", the girl thought out loud. "You seem pretty sure and you wouldn't know unless you-" She stopped, realization hitting her. Rose's gut plummeted. The girl did _not_ seem happy at all. Rose was expecting the girl to get _really_ mad at her, but instead she took a deep breath and faced Rose. "My name is Marina. What is yours?"

Rose's jaw dropped. She was nothing if not surprised. Marina had dropped it so quickly! Didn't seem at all upset anymore about Rose trying to take control of her with the powers that all Lunars are born with-unless you're a shell. But there is a twist to being a shell. You can't control anyone, but no one can control you.

It took Rose a while to register a response to Marina's question. "My name is...R-Rose", she stuttered, taken by surprise, she had totally dropped the act of being stronger than she actually was. Marina nodded. "So, how do we get out of here?" she asked. Rose just shook her head. She had tried to escape many times. She had never succeeded. It seemed like so long ago, when she had been drawn to escape like a magnet. How long exactly had she been locked down there, surviving off of the horrible food and dirty water they provided her with in this cell?

Right then Rose remembered why she had asked Marina if she was a shell. "How did you get here?" she asked. Marina frowned, not too fond in the change of subject. They stood in silence for a while. Just when Rose thought Marina was never going to answer, she heard the other girl sigh. "If you really want the truth," she says,"here it is: I stole." That one word rang inside of Rose's head, _stole_. She was absolutely horrified. People used to steal from Rose and her mother, until the...incident.

"How did you get here?" asked Marina. Her reply was immediate. "My mother was a shell and I protested when she was being executed." Rose blinked. That answer had been forced from her mouth. "You're not a shell." she realized. She had not been directing that at Marina- she had just been thinking aloud, but the girl still replied. "No, but I can't be controlled, either." Rose was extremely confused at this. "That isn't possible." she said. There were the gifted Lunars, who could control people, but also be controlled, and the shells, who couldn't control people, or be controlled. You can't be a mixture. That has never happened before.

Marina laughed. "No?" she asked. "I'm living proof that it is possible!" Rose shook her head. This girl made her uneasy. _Very _uneasy.

"Now", said Marina, snapping Rose from her tangle of thoughts. "Let's go back to my earlier question." Her voice was super jolly now, and it put Rose on edge. "How do we get out of here?" asked Marina, her face completely innocent. Rose stated all of the ways she had tried to escape that she remembered, not even trying to fight the girl's firm grip on her mind. Marina stood tall, tapping her chin, deep in thought, trying to figure out a way to get out of this wretched place. A guard stopped at their cell, interrupting Marina's thoughts. Those emerald eyes gave a suspicious sparkle as Marina saw the guard. A sign that Rose would later realize meant that Marina was up to something. As the guard stepped through the doors, he stopped, still holding the door open. Marina stepped out, and gestured for Rose to follow. Unsure what else to do, Rose stepped in front of the bars, and gave Marina a curious glare. The guard stepped back, locked the door, and gave Marina the keys through the bars, duct taping his mouth and giving her the roll for good measure. _Right_, thought Rose, _the alarms don't go off unless the cell is empty. _

She had asked so many people to help her, and now she was finally going to escape.

One girl she had asked reminded her so much of herself. Short blonde hair, big blue eyes, innocent looking, but Rose had still been locked in that cell. The girl had not helped either. Ever since that event, she had told herself, _you can't rely on anyone. You want to get something done right? Do it yourself. _She was having second thoughts on that now; Marina was helping her, even if she was a filthy thief. She wondered how long their delicate alliance would last. If they even had one.

The two of them crept down the hallway towards the exit of what had been Rose's prison for so long, and in some odd, horrible way, her home.


	2. Chapter 2

Cress

Cress could not believe she was still on the Rampion, that it wasn't over yet, that Levana was still out there. The six of them had achieved so much-surviving the attack of the Lunar operatives, kidnapping the emperor (long story), even being on this ship _alive_ was an accomplishment. When they had faced their greatest challenge- defeating Levana-, they had been badly outnumbered, yet they still got so close to catching Levana. They were all far stronger than they had been before, but they still hadn't accomplished what they had dreamed of. Levana was still out there, no doubt planning something awful for the lot of them.

Cress sighed and slowly sat up on her bed. Someone had to make breakfast for the...whatever they were. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she walked through her bedroom door and into the room that they used as a kitchen. She picked up one of the recipes and did her best to gather the right materials and ingredients for some waffles. She groaned. She was no good at this. She was a hacker, not a cook. She took a deep breath. _It's fine, _she tells herself. _It should be just like an instruction manual. Seriously, how hard could it be? _Thorne must have read her expression, because he said, "It's fine, Cress. You don't have to cook." She let out a relieved sigh, and Thorne laughed. Cress could tell he was tired, but at least he had his eyesight back. "You've got to eat," She said softly. "Not hungry." Replied Cinder in a harsh voice that made Cress jump. "Sorry." Cinder said in an apologetic, quieter tone. Cress shook her head. Cinder was being too hard on herself. She blamed herself for letting levana escape, for keeping them on this ship. Cinder's eyes had been fixed on the same spot on the wall all morning and with Kai back on Earth to explain their situation, no one had effectively been lightening her mood.

Cress and Thorne shared a quick glance. Cinder probably just wanted some alone time. Without saying a word, they left the makeshift kitchen, and turned into the room with crates shaped as chairs. Maybe you could call it the living room.

Thorne shook his head and sighed. "Someone's in a bad mood." Cress nodded her head in agreement, glad that Thorne could see it now. "Kai is probably more use here than down there," she said.

Cress looked around to see if there was anything productive she could be doing. Just a room of crates, that was all she saw. Neither Wolf nor Scarlet were in sight. They had always been together since they had got Scarlet back from Lunar. Not surprising, really. That one thought reminded Cress of the Lunar prison they had been in while they were looking for Scarlet. She saw that girl again. Knotted caramel hair, sweet gray-blue eyes. She had looked so innocent. Her wails were what woke Cress up of a morning. She believed the girl in the rags. That had been her once, begging for freedom, not receiving it. She had walked to the girl, had wanted to set her free. The girl couldn't use her glamour on her, so she knew that she really _wanted _to do it. No Lunar tricks, just her feelings. She hadn't been able to save her though. Cress never told anyone about the girl, but she wanted to tell someone, and she trusted Thorne.

"I want to tell you something," she said

"I'm listening," Thorne replied. "Go on."

"When we were looking for Scarlet...I saw this girl," said Cress. "She was begging me to help, but I couldn't...save her. She reminded me so much of myself, when I was on that satellite." Thorne sighed. "Sorry Cress, but we were kind of busy trying to kill Levana. We didn't have the time."

"You had time to save me," Cress argued.

"She was probably in prison because she committed a crime, Cress." You could tell that Thorne was trying to stay calm. He probably didn't think this was anything important. He didn't know that that girl was pretty much always on her mind after she tried to rescue her.

"So saving her mother is a crime?" asked Cress, knowing that Thorne was going to lose his temper soon, but not really caring either way.

"I don't see why this is important! She could have used those Lunar mind trick things on you," he shot back.

"No she couldn't; I'm a shell." Cress pointed out.

Thorne shook his head, giving up. "I don't want to argue with you anymore," he said.

"Fine," Cress huffed. "Be that way."

Moments later Thorne stormed out of the room. _Great_, Cress thought. _Just great._

But she honestly didn't care. Thorne just left her to be guilty about...well, she didn't really know what, but she was not putting up with that. She was not going to get emotional because he didn't care about her. That thought had her walking up to Cinder within seconds, trying to force the lump down her throat.

Cinder

Cinder could hear Cress's and Thorne's argument from her place in the kitchen. She had to agree with Thorne on that one, not that there was much to agree with when it came to Thorne. She was glad that they had at least tried to give her some privacy. She missed Kai more than she cared to admit, but it wasn't exactly rocket science. Even Thorne knew!

And then there was the problem with Levana…

After a while, Cress storms into the room. "Ugh!" She groans. "Thorne is such an idiot!" Cinder sighs. Thorne was quite the confusing person. Such a mixed character, but Cinder couldn't think of what he could've done to make Cress this mad. Well, _actually _there was plenty he could've done, but Cinder thought Thorne was done with being a criminal now that he was _actually_ famous.

Thorne had stolen plenty earlier on. In fact, he escaped prison in a ship that he stole. He considered himself famous for being on TV when they realized he was missing!

"What did he do this time?" asked Cinder. Cress rolled her eyes. "It's Thorne, Cinder. Take a wild guess."

"That's not fair!" Cinder moaned. "I'll never get it right. It could have been anything."

Cress sighed. "I'm just so tired of this...this routine that we have. We argue everyday about stuff that normally isn't important, but this time it actually _was_ important to me and he never even cares!" At the last part of her short speech she breaks down in sobs.

"Wow, wow! Don't cry on me!" Cinder said while she desperately tried to calm Cress down.

"I'm fine," she sniffled. "I'm just tired."

"You should get some rest." Cinder suggests. Cress only nods, and Cinder lead her to her room. She falls asleep in minutes. As she walked out, she saw Thorne in the room that they used as the kitchen.

"What did you do?" She growled, trying her best to stay quiet for Cress's sake.

"What _did_ I do?" Thorne asked. "I'm so confused. Girls are so difficult to understand!"

Cinder just stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation.

"You heard it, didn't you?" was all that Thorne had to say.

"The argument? Yes, but what does that have to do with Cress?" She asked.

"I wouldn't know, I obviously don't have a clue, but that's the only reason I can think of that would make her mad at me, though I honestly still don't understand. Maybe I shouldn't have walked out on her, or disagreed-"

"You can only think of one reason she could be upset with you? She knows you better than you know yourself." Cinder retorts, suddenly feeling defensive of Cress. "Maybe you could actually show some emotion towards her next time?"

"I don't know how to do that!" Thorne exclaims. "And I seriously hope there is no next time!"

They were shouting at each other now, and right outside the Cress's bedroom door. The poor girl obviously needed rest. "Just shut up and be nice to her." Cinder whispers angrily. Before Thorne could come up with a response, she stormed away, leaving him there with his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

Bella

She walked back from work, hoping for dear life that her father was not home, but, of course, he was. He always was. Making a mess of the place, and screaming at her to clean it up all the time. Beating her if she took too long or resisted. He gave her nightmares as a very young lunar. She might as well be his maid for all the work she did for him.

Opening the door quietly, in the hopes that he was asleep, Bella crept into the dark room. The groans coming from the kitchen confirmed that Bella's dad was still awake.

"Clean this mess up!" He came tumbling through the room with a bottle of liquor.

Bella hung up her coat in the old cupboard near the entrance. "On it," she answered, and hurried into each room, cleaning it even though she knew it would go back to the same state soon enough. Mopping any wooden floors, vacuuming the carpets, cleaning the windows, doing the washing, making the beds, putting things back in place in the kitchen. Their house was pretty much the same as earthen houses, inside, and out. Many people were disgusted by it, but Bella's father would never get rid of it. The reason why was still a mystery to Bella.

Once she was done, she followed her father into his room. He often said stuff about Bella's mother in his sleep. Once she found out where she was, Bella planned to find her.

Normally Bella's father didn't know she was even in his presence unless there was more cleaning to be done, but he took notice to her now. He set down his bottle on the table next to his abnormally large bed- which was rather odd, really. He normally just dumped it on the floor- and looked her in the eye.

"I know what you plan to do," he said

Bella swallowed. This meant a beating for sure. This mad man probably didn't want his free maid running away.

"Now, I know I'm not the best dad-" Bella had to stop herself from laughing. Did her father really think he could make up for what cruel things he had done to her in a short conversation? "Stars, you probably think I've been the worst." Bella stayed silent "But I still care about you. Please don't leave." She was so stunned by that, that she probably couldn't have replied if she wanted to.

Once she regained her voice, she said, "I don't think I can stay here."

Actually managing to look pretty upset, her father nodded his head. "Very well, then."

Bella turned her back and was out the door, when her father said, "Wait."

She turned around, but didn't step any closer to him. "I'm listening."

"If you're going to go, then you should know where you're going." Bella perked up her ears at that, and moved a little closer. "You will not find your mother, she's dead." He said flatly. "But your sister is most likely on earth, if she's anything like your mother was."

Earth. The house, he kept it because it reminded him of Bella's mother. Maybe the crazy old man wasn't heartless after all.

"Sister?" asked Bella.

"Yes, you have a twin sister," her father replied, and before she could get anything more out of him, he was asleep.

That night, Bella packed her bags, though she was reluctant to leave her father, which was not something she had been prepared for, but he had proved something to her that night. No matter how drunk and mad with grief, he would always be her dad, if not a great one. Bella had learned two things significant in her life from him. She was not an only child as she believed to be, but her mother was dead.

Scarlet

Scarlet made her way over to the kitchen, Wolf at her side. "What do you want to eat?" she asked.

"Too bad we don't have tomatoes."

"You know, we do have tomatoes," said Scarlet.

"The canned ones? I hate those," Wolf wrinkled his nose.

"Because you can't open them?" asked Scarlet

"No," Wolf chuckled. "Because they aren't half as good as yours."

"That's sweet, but too bad. We're having the tomatoes."

Wolf pretended to look upset. "Maybe we don't have one of those opening thingies that are impossible to use." He said.

Scarlet laughed. "No such luck. I always have one with me."

She got a can of tomatoes and paused when she pulled out her can opener. "If I'm going to be your alfa, then you're just going to have to deal with me teaching you how to use one of these."

Wolf just folded his arms over his chest, imitating a pouting child, which made Scarlet laugh again.

They sat at the table and were sharing a can together-though Wolf finished it almost immediately-when Thorne barged in.

"Hi. Just getting some lunch," he said, not looking half as happy as he should about getting something to eat.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Scarlet.

"Cress is what's up," answered Cinder as she entered, sat down and glared at Thorne.

"What happened?" said Wolf.

"I _still_ don't know, and I've been trying to figure it out all day!" cried Thorne.

"That must've been a whole lot of thinking for you to do," Cinder replies.

Thorne just glared back at her.

"First things first," said Scarlet. "You've got to apologize to her."

"But-"

"Even if you don't know what you're apologizing for," She interrupted, already knowing what Thorne was about to say.

"Does that really work?" asks Wolf.

"Not on me," said Scarlet. "Don't get any ideas." That made Wolf laugh.

"Bye, then," Thorne murmured.

Cinder sighed and was leaving the room before Thorne even got up out of his seat.

Scarlet sighed. "How did this happen, Wolf?" She asked.

Wolf just shook his head. "I don't know. We're in such a mess aren't we?"

They were on their third can of tomatoes, now, even though Scarlet had only eaten about three-Wolf was getting the hang of opening the cans-when they saw Thorne walk up to the door of Cress's room.

"Cress?" he asked

The door opened a crack and Scarlet heard Cress ask, "Who is it?"

"Captain Thorne," he said, grinning with his hands on his hips.

"Ugh," was Cress's reply. "You're so full of yourself."

Thorne's grin faltered at that, if only a little. "Umm, sorry?"

The tiny gap in the door closed.

"Wait!" Without asking, Thorne opened the door and entered, leaving it open so Scarlet could still hear their conversation crystal clear.

"Do you think this is eavesdropping?" asked Scarlet

Wolf shrugged. "I'll probably hear it no matter what room we're in," he said. He had a point.

Just then Cress walked out of the room. She looked much better than Scarlet had seen her before. Her short hair was well brushed and had now grown down to her shoulders. There were no bags under her eyes and they weren't red, though something told Scarlet that Cress hadn't slept as long as she stayed in her room.

A second later, Thorne came running after her, stumbling over some of his crates that were left in the hall.

"I'm sorry! Really!"

Cress sighed and turned on her heels, giving him Cinder's signature cold glare. In fact, their glares were so similar that Scarlet wondered if Cinder had _asked_ her to glare at Thorne.

"Let's leave them to it," Scarlet nudged Wolf and he nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

They could hear Cress calmly talking to Thorne as if he were a young child, firm yet quiet.

"You have got to get yourself together," she said, waving her finger in the air as if she were scolding him.

"Wow," said Wolf. "She's toughened up." Scarlet had to agree. Cress really did seem different than when she had first escaped that satellite. They all did.

As they were walking down the hallway, Scarlet and Wolf saw Iko.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed "Did you see that! Thorne is like, so upset that he is losing Cress! I hope they get back together again." She sighed. "You know, they are having a fight, Kai is on Earth-which is like, totally horrible, so you guys are the only couple left in the ship!"

"Uhh...thanks, Iko," said Scarlet. "Good seeing you."

She turned back to Wolf. Iko may not have meant it this way, but she made Scarlet realize something. Everyone on this ship was falling apart.

Rose

Soon Rose saw sunlight, something she hadn't seen in years, and she could see that Marina's hair was really a deep red, not black. It must have been a trick of the light, but the other girl's eyes were still just as dark. They sent shivers up her spine. "Where to now?" she asked.

"Earth," Marina answered

"Earth? Are you crazy?"

"Yes, and yes, but we can't stay on Lunar. They'll figure out we're missing eventually. I'm surprised they haven't already. Plus, Earth is a much bigger place to hide in and it has seas…" her eyes caught a faraway look, and Rose had to snap her fingers in front of her face to bring her back to the present, but Marina was right, they would get caught if they stayed there.

Marina shook her head, clearing away any thoughts that she was having. Right at that moment, the prison's alarms went off.

Marina grabbed Rose's wrist and lead her over to a stray ship for emergencies. The ship was pretty much in perfect shape, there was just one problem. The ship had it's very own guards. The alarm must have startled them, though, because they were looking at the prison's entrance.

Marina caught them off guard and knocked them out viciously by slamming her head into theirs. If she normally did that, then Rose was surprised that she didn't act even stranger.

Marina hopped into the passenger seat, and Rose plucked a bug off the bottom and one off the side of the ship and stuck them on two passing hovers.

"Nice," said Marina.

"Thanks," replied Rose.

She made it to the ship and noticed that only the driver's seat was empty.

"You expect me to fly this thing?"

"I thought you were capable."

"I can't fly this!"

"Well we won't be going anywhere until you learn how," said Marina, gesturing to the guards running over to them. "Apart from back in prison."

Rose had time for one last glare towards Marina before she hopped in and grabbed the controls.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Marina. "Not that fast!"

"Going fast is better than getting caught!"

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Didn't really have time to read the instruction manual."

"This thing comes with an instruction manual?" asked Marina.

"You wish," laughed Rose.

Whoever was following them gave up on the chase pretty soon. Either they weren't important, or maybe there were still bugs on the ship that they could track them with, or whoever was chasing them simply didn't want to go as fast as Rose was, or maybe they thought they would be able to find them on Earth somehow...she had to stop worrying! Everything would be fine, right?

Earth kept getting bigger and bigger until they saw a good landing spot.

Marina sat back in her seat. "Just stop right there," she said.

"That's a good plan," replied Rose, "but I don't know how to stop this thing."

"What?!"

"I told you I didn't know how to use this!" said Rose, starting to panic. "You never had a plan B incase something like this went wrong?"

"I left that to you."

"You could've told me I was supposed to come up with one!"

Marina lunged over towards the controls, which caused Rose to jerk back and squeal.

"What are you doing?" she asked

"Trying to get a parachute activated or something," Marina answered

Rose managed to scramble over to the passenger's seat and Marina settled down into her chair. She just kept pushing random buttons without looking at them, but Rose studied them carefully, trying to find out what each one's use was, and she found one that she reckoned would do the trick, one that Marina hadn't pressed yet.

"The green one!" she yelled over the noise.

"What?" Marina hadn't heard her.

"That one! That one!" she gestured frantically, but couldn't get Marina to press the one she wanted.

She reached over and pressed it. Nothing happened. She kept pressing it, but it was no use.

She was bracing herself for a crash landing when the parachute suddenly decided to work.

They drifted down to land, both of them too stunned to speak, which was saying a lot, it being Marina.

Finally, Rose regained her voice. "Faulty parachute," She stuttered. "That is why they didn't follow us all the way on the chase. We are supposed to be dead right now. I knew that escape was too easy"

Marina only nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

Bella

Bella didn't pack that much. She was planning on leaving in a small ship because it had less bugs, but a small ship meant very limited storing space. Everything that she took with her was something of need. She had never had an object of value, or something that she cared about. She did, however, want to go to the one _place_ that meant something to her.

Bella was a doctor. Maybe not an experienced one, but the skills that she did have might come in handy while she was finding her sister. Her sister. She had never in her life dared to think that there may be someone else to run away for apart from her mother, but she had basically one goal in life; find any family or friends that still care about her, bring them together, protect them from this crazy war. She was going to find her sister at all costs.

She made her way over to the hospital. It was a glistening pearly white that rippled like water when there was light, and was very large, with all the medical toys inside that you could want. Bella slid her card down next to the doors, and was able to enter after a quick eye scan.

She took anything that would be of need, but not enough to cause suspicion. But soon she found that she was not alone. Whoever had been there had not bothered to hide that they had gotten in late at night.

She shone a flashlight beam down the walls. "Who's there?" she asked.

"Bella?"

She recognized that voice. "Jake?"

He stepped out of the shadows and into her beam of light, grinning at her.

"You nearly had me raising the alarm," he said.

"Well, that wouldn't of helped either of us," she smiled, glad to see an old friend.

He suddenly turned utterly serious. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Finding your long-lost mother or something?"

"No." she answered. "Long-lost sister, actually." Jake was the only one who knew about her wish to find her mother. They normally didn't talk about it out loud.

"I'm coming with you," said Jake.

"No you're not," Bella argued.

"I insist."

Bella glared at him, but when he says that he insists, he means it. "Fine," she says, giving in, "But don't expect me to be happy about it."

"Great. Tonight, is it?"

"Yes, I'll lead you to the ship. Any idea how to fly one?" He shook his head. "Good job I do." He grinned at that.

Bella picked off all the bugs, and tweaked it so that it wouldn't give off light or be as loud as normal. She had been planning to run away for a while, now. She knew what she was doing.

She had tidied the hospital and hoped that they wouldn't notice that two doctors were missing and some of their tools, to.

When they were ready, Bella finally allowed herself to relax. She set her feet up on top of a bag of medical equipment and let out a relieved sigh. She was finally going to turn the tables and straighten out her messy life. She set the ship on autopilot, and got ready for a nap.

Jake poked his head out from behind. "What should I do with the stuff that I brought?"

Bella took one look at his bag of junk and gave him a slap across his face that left a red mark.

"What in stars was that for?" asked Jake, cupping a hand around his cheek.

Bella glared at him. He knew what great efforts she'd made to make this escape. He was going to mess the whole thing up and he knew it.

"Just put your junk in the ship, get in, and don't disturb my beauty sleep because you know how horrible I am to be around when I'm when I'm tired!"

The ship rose up, and just like that, Bella's life had changed forever. She was on her way to Earth to find her long-lost twin sister. Yay.

Cinder

Cinder was walking back to her room, when Iko comes running up to her.

"EEEE!" she screeched.

"Wow, Iko, calm down!"

Iko scooped Cinder up into a hug.

"Kai's coming back! Kai's coming back!" she yelled. _What?_ Cinder thought. _Kai? Back here?_

"What do you mean, Iko?"

"Kai just made an announcement and he said that he was coming back with us to help us on our search for Levana and he cleared everything up so nobody thinks we are bad guys anymore! We can go down to Earth and pick him up tomorrow!"

"What? Really? You mean it?" asked Cinder

"Yes!" she was literally jumping up and down.

Cinder felt all these different emotions boiling up inside her. Kai wanted to see her again! And she really wanted to see him again, to.

Iko suddenly turned deadly serious. "We've got to get you ready."  
"What?"

Iko rolled her eyes. "You can't go to the Commonwealth like that," she exclaimed, gesturing at her grease stained cargo pants, tank top and her bedhead.

Cinder laughed. "Stop freaking out, Iko. You said it was _tomorrow_."

Iko shook her head. "We need to find the right look for you," she said, and before Cinder could process what was happening, she was being dragged into Iko's room.

Iko shut the door behind them and dragged Cinder into her closet. "You'll thank me for this later," she said.

"No I won't!" Cinder was desperately trying to get out of this nightmarish closet with ball gowns and tiaras covered with sparkles. _Ugh_!

Iko was standing in front of a huge blue gown that Cinder decided she absolutely despised.

She took it and laid it carefully on the bed, then stopped at a pair of heels that Cinder swore were crystal clear and really uncomfortable looking.

Cinder tripped over a tiara and cursed, her cyborg foot breaking an expensive looking necklace.

"Where did you even _get_ this stuff?"

Iko didn't answer, just looked at Cinder with pleading eyes. "Come on, Cinder. Just try on _one_ outfit and then I'll leave you alone. _Please_."

Cinder thought about it. One outfit. One outfit. She stared at the things that Iko had picked out distastefully. One outfit. "Fine."

Iko squealed in delight and started dressing Cinder. When she was finally satisfied with Cinder's _one outfit, _she squealed and guided Cinder over to the mirror, but Cinder never got to see what she looked like because just then something large hit the Rampion. "_Woooow_!" Cinder cried as she completely lost her balance on her high heels and toppled onto the ground, ripping her dress with the stupid shoes.

"Cinder!" was the last thing she heard before the ship was completely tilted on it's side and everything went black.

Marina

Once they recovered from their shock, Marina and Rose went to go look for supplies, civilization, and to try to find out where in stars they were, but mostly, Marina wanted to go exploring, however,it had been a while since she'd been to Earth, and she wasn't quite sure where she was. She wanted to make sure that wherever they were was a safe place to venture around. She may be crazy, mad even,but she was definitely not stupid.

Rose was plucking some berries from a nearby bush. "Maybe we can eat these," she said. Marina shrugged in response, not really taking notice to what she was saying. She could be such a pain sometimes! So clueless, so delicate, and yet there was something about her that made her likable. She hated it!

Rose plopped one in her mouth, and made a disgusted face. Marina laughed. "Those nice berries?" She asked, sarcasm clear in her voice. Rose just kept eating more. "Better than starving to death," she said, and she had a point, but Marina had lost her appetite after all the summersaults her stomach did during their crash-landing, and it took _a lot_ to give Marina an empty stomach.

She turned away again, and heard a noise as if something had fallen on the ground. "Rose?" she asked, spinning toward where the noise had come from. "Rose!" she gasped. Her form was laying on the ground before Marina's eyes, stiff and unmoving.

Marina wasn't quite sure how she felt. She could ditch the girl right now if she wanted to, it would save her time energy, but she didn't want to as much as she should-or normally did. Whether she cared to admit it or not, she actually _liked_ Rose. Only few in the world-or Luna-could say that, and it almost _never _lasted.

She looked around, and this time her main priority was civilization, not adventure. Anyone that could help would be welcome, not killed, which was unusual.

However, as much as she looked, all she saw were more trees. They had crash landed in a forest of some sort. Their ship, however, had found the one large space of land unoccupied by the wild.

After a while, she finally decided to head back to their stolen aircraft, dragging Rose behind her by one wrist, and very possibly ripping her arm out of her socket. Well, she wasn't exactly in good health anyway! Maybe she was better off being ditched than having _Marina _saving her. Too late! She hadn't dragged her over here for nothing, she was either going to make her condition worse, or better, but she wasn't leaving her now.

When they finally made it back, Marina let go of Rose's wrist and groggily walked to the other side of the ship, ready to flop down on the side and fall asleep. She was exhausted. Their journey so far had been far more complicated than it had to be. She lay down in the mud, making the clothes that they had provided her with at the prison wet and dirty, and was comforted in a weird way. Earth. They made it. Marina was back where she wanted to be, instead of where she was supposed to be. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep earlier than normal. She did not wait for the stars as usual. She wanted to see her first stars back on Earth with Rose. Sure, you could see them from Luna to, but somehow they seemed softer on Earth, whereas on Luna they seemed too sharp, too beautiful. Creully beautiful. Here they were more bearable.

Her eyes flashed open as she realized that she had left Rose on the other side of the ship. Then she saw it. Smoke rising up from a great distance. Only a couple wisps of it, but smoke none the less, and smoke meant people, which meant possibly getting Rose fixed.

Carrying Rose the whole way, she made it there by...well, she didn't really know, but the burning heat and light was replaced by near pitch black darkness and a cold that made her teeth chatter, so it was definitely late.

Marina walked through the darkness, and eventually found the source of the smoke. It was a small hut, more of a cottage, really, with a thin, silent river flowing not far behind it, and it smelled really bad, like rotten fish.


	5. Chapter 5

Bella

Bella had been having a dreamless sleep when her ship had crashed into the Rampion, and was jerked awake in an unpleasant way.

"Ahh!" she yelled, jumping up in surprise and banging her head on the buttons in front of her. The buttons that you were supposed to use for flying the ship. The buttons that were causing the ship to fly in circles as if a lunatic were riding in it.

Jake sat next to her, snoring. Stars! He could literally sleep through anything! She shook him, but he just rolled over and pushed her away sleepily.

"We _crashed!_ Stars, _get up_ already!" Bella yelled in his ear.

"Huh?" he murmured, slowly opening his eyes and yawning loudly. "What happened?" His eyes were fully open now, and he could see space spinning around them through the window. "Wha-"

"I don't know!" Bella interrupted, already knowing that whatever his question was, it wouldn't have an accurate answer. Not from her, at least.

Jake was trying to get them to stop spinning when everything plunged into darkness, and they started to fall. Suddenly the other ship's lights flickered on, and Bella recognized it immediately. The famous Rampion. They had crashed into the Rampion! She didn't have much time to worry about that, though, because they were falling, and fast!

Just then they came to a sudden stop, and the lights came back on. Jake gave a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair dramatically. _Hilarious, Jake_, Bella thought. They had almost died!

She saw the Rampion beside them and was relieved that it didn't look like too much damage had been done. On the outside, at least. Who knows what happened to the people inside…

_Their_ ship, however, was a different story. It was barely holding them in the air.

A light came on and there sat a girl with short tangled hair and big blue eyes on Bella's port screen. _Cress. _

"Got them," she called and there came Selene-Cinder, she prefered Cinder-Carswell, Ze'ev-Wolf-, and Scarlet. Stars, what had Bella done to them?

Cinder was in what probably used to be a beautiful ballgown but now had a tear in it that went from her knee to her bare foot. Her hair was a complete mess of tangles and frizz. Carswell was jabbering on about the damage done to the Rampion, Cress looked like she had just got out of bed-maybe she had. Sorry, Cress- Scarlet just looked plain annoyed and Wolf looked like he was about to kill them. Uh oh. Jake swallowed, picking up on the angry famous people they had crashed into. Oops.

"Uumm…." Bella started, but was already at a loss of words.

"We had our ship on autopilot, and it must not have known your ship was there, thanks to your wonderful hacker," Jake offered, making Cress's face turn a deep red.

Cinder growled at them.

"You nearly got us all killed!" Scarlet yelled. Stars, that girl had a temper.

"Yeah, uh, sorry...about that, I just...um...," Bella stuttered. This wasn't going well.

Cress squinted at her screen and murmured something to Carswell, who raised his eyebrows.

"Your ship will last about 15 minutes, by the way," he said.

Bella gulped. 15 minutes? Stars help them.

Cinder flashed a look at Scarlet, who nodded.

Cress started fiddling with the hem of her dress. "So we are letting you come aboard," she squeaked.

Both Carswell and Jake raised their eyebrows at that. "You're serious?" Bella asked.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "12 minutes now," she said.

"We're coming," replied Jake, "But, uh, how are we supposed to get on?"

Grinning, Carswell said, "Let me take care of that."

Cress

Cress was still embarrassed about her melt down, and was still guilty for yelling at Thorne. Thorne, who was sitting across from her and making her feel dizzy. She gulped, knowing that she was supposed to be the one to break the awkward silence.

"I've got to go work on locating Levana's current hiding place," she said.

"Good idea," Thorne replied, grinning. "May I join you?"

"Of course," Cress stuttered, already feeling queasy about Thorne watching her even more.

The captain gave her a wink that set her heart pounding in her chest.

Cress heard a 'Wow' and turned to see who had spoken.

The new passengers were boarding the ship and the girl was marveling at actually seeing the 'heroes' on the ship. Cress wasn't a hero, Thorne was. She turned her gaze back towards him. Yes, he was definitely the hero here…

"You there?" asked the guy on the ship.

"Y-yes," Cress answered as she was torn from her thoughts.

"Well we just wanted to say thanks for saving us back there, so...yeah, thanks."

"Thanks," the girl said shyly.

Cress could've sworn she'd seen that girl before. Her straight caramel hair, her height, skin tone, all of it rang a bell, but from where?

They took their space masks off-Thorne literally had a crate of stuff for every situation. Maybe that was the idea-and Cress offered to take them around the ship.

Thorne stood and walked after them. "I'm coming to. After all it is _my _ship"

"Ours," Cinder corrected.

"Whatever," he replied, waving a dismissive hand in her direction.

They were trapped in complete silence as they walked the halls on light feet, not making a sound. Once again, Cress was to be the one to break the awkward silence.

"Where were you going?" asked Cress.

The two shared a quick look then became interested in their shoes. The girl mumbled something under her breath that Cress couldn't make sense of.

"What was that?" asked Cress in a soft voice.

"Earth," the boy answered.

Earth? Why in stars would they want to go there? Cress decided it wasn't a good time to ask. So instead she asked," What are your names?"

Happy with the change of subject, the two answered louder than they had the previous question.

Grinning, the girl answered,"Bella."

"Nice to meet you, Bella," Thorne said with a wink.

"Really?" asked the boy sarcastically. "Under these circumstances it's good to see us?"

"Who's this charmer?" Thorne smirked.

"Jake."

"I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I'd be lying."

The two started arguing and Bella and Cress shared a look that seemed to say, _boys_.

They exited the room they used as a lounge of sorts and Cress gestured for Bella to follow her to the kitchen, towards her bedroom. "It's not much," she said, looking around at the small room with two beds crammed towards the back wall. She hadn't had any belongings after the crash landing she had with Thorne in her satellite, so the whole room was pretty much completely empty, Bella seemed to like it that way.

"I don't have much either," she said, smiling shyly, "But I don't really need any belongings. I believe that as long as you're safe with the people you want to be with, untouched by outsiders, you don't need belongings to be happy."

Cress, unsuspecting of Bella's outburst stayed quiet in order to not say anything stupid to embarrass Bella. Or herself. Bella suddenly got all shy again and blushed a little. So much for not embarrassing her.

Marina

Marina had come to realize that the awful stench was rotten fish, but it didn't exactly help to know what it was.

It was very quiet and had the eerie feeling of a haunted house, which made sense, because it was very much abandoned. Marina was alone, or so she thought.

Suddenly some stupid earthen who didn't know what was good for themselves jumped out with a gun in his hand. "Who are you? What do you want? Why are you here? How did you get here?"

Marina eyed the gun carefully, and then a smile slowly crept up on her face. "Curious, aren't you?" she asked, eyes sparkling with mischief. "My name is Marina. Don't worry, I'll tell you soon enough what I want, and as for how I got here and why I'm here…" she paused for a second, and then laughed humorlessly, sharp and short. "Well," she said, "I don't have all day and that is a rather long story."

For the first time Marina looked up from the gun and saw the cottage's owner. His eyes were gold. _Gold. _Maybe it was a trick of the light, but that didn't make any sense. There was no light and Marina's eyes were never tricked. Not anymore.

Their color wasn't the only thing unsettling about his eyes. There simply wasn't any fear in them. The man hadn't shivered at her undeniable confidence as any human in their right mind would have done, instead he laughed. "Lost?"

Marina lost her smile. She scowled. "Not. Lost," she hissed.

The man holding the gun shrugged. "Need to help her, I'll bet," he said, jutting his chin towards Rose, lying unattended to on the ground.

Marina gave a sharp nod of her head.

The man frowned. "You're at the wrong place," he said, keeping his voice low and glancing at the door.

Marina followed his gaze. "Are you a complete lunatic? There's nothing there!"

"You don't know that..." he paused, "and I'm not a lunatic, but I wouldn't be wrong to say that you were, right?" he never looked at her in the eye. Maybe the truth would scare him.

Marina grinned mischievously. "Course I'm lunar."

He nodded.

Didn't anything scare him?

"Where can I get her help?" Marina asked, gesturing to Rose.

He squinted at her and said, "Best bet is over there," he pointed over the mountains, "but you won't make it that far. No one does."

Marina gazed up at the mountains and felt confident with her odds at winning his challenge. She had never lost a challenge, and this was easier than any challenges she had faced, so no matter how many had failed, she was going to succeed.

She hoisted Rose up over her shoulder and started towards the door, only to find the annoying Earthen blocking her way. "What are you doing? Are you mad? You can't go out at night!"

Marina gritted her teeth. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm new to this dump, so do you mind _explaining_?"

Instead of answering, he looked over his shoulder into the darkness of the sky. "As you said, you don't have time for a long story," he whispered, looking at Rose now, "And neither do I." He closed the door and locked it, sliding the key into his back pocket.

Marina instinctively tried not to look interested, her thieving instinct taking over. The back pocket was the easiest place to steal from. Just a slip of her hand, flick of her wrist, and her and Rose would be as good as gone.

Staying out of arm's reach, the stranger walked to a different door, locking each one before finding what must be his bedroom and giving her an apologetic look and locking that door, but not before he got inside. Marina was alone.

She looked over at each locked door, determining which ones she would be able to open by force, but only one was of use, and it wouldn't budge. Stupid door. Her only way out and she had to _wait_? Well she was anything but patient. This was going to be a long night.

Banging noises shook the whole house, the trees outside trembled, but she didn't see anyone. It was as if her noise only made people even more afraid to get out of their beds. She took a second to imagine people cowering under their covers, and wondered what could haunt people that badly.

She sat there glaring at the door, hating it. Hating the people outside who were too scared to move, hating the guy who had locked her there for 'her own good', hating Rose for so stupidly eating those dumb berries, hating-

She suddenly sat up, eyes wide and alert. She had heard something, she wasn't sure what exactly, but her ears never failed her so she knew that there had to be something out there.

Silence.

She sat up a little straighter as long, agonizing seconds ticked by.

Nothing.

Ten minutes went by. She couldn't have imagined it. Maybe it was an animal and she had got all excited about nothing. Then she heard it again.

Grunts. "Lemme go. I can walk by meself by du way." Definitely not an animal. Animals couldn't talk.

Marina tried to peek through the keyhole but couldn't see anything. Then a guard came into view. Her breath caught. It was a lunar guard. He heard her gasp and turned in her direction.

"Over here!" She called. "Get me out, stars _get me out_!"

The guard glanced her way and shrugged. He obviously wasn't worried about the other man-who Marina couldn't see-escaping.

He took a ring of keys from his pocket and flicked through them, trying to find the right one.

People like him must be what all those other cowards are afraid of, which made sense. For Earthens, lunar guards were like extremely dangerous animals that anyone would be an idiot to go anywhere near.

He finally found the right one and unlocked the door. Marina grabbed Rose and ran out into the open, taking in a deep breath of fresh air.

Now that she could see properly, Marina looked over to the victim of the lunar guard. He was a big man-big meaning fat-and looked almost lifeless, as if he knew that life living here like this was pointless anyway so it wouldn't be that big of a loss if it ended. He had a long nose, huge ears and gray skin. His eyes were black and small. He represented a weird, messed up, slightly creepy elephant.

The hairs stood up on the back of her neck, but it had nothing to do with the stranger. Nothing in the world was creepy enough to scare her.

She spun around and caught the guard's hand which was gripping a pair of cuffs as if they were his lifeline. Spinning him away from her, she raised her hands above her head saying, "Relax. I'm on your side for stars' sake."

In answer to the guard's confused look she said, "Lunar," and for demonstration made him drop the cuffs. He gaped down at them, but seemed a significant amount more comfortable. Funny how one word can do that, isn't it?

**Don't worry. I plan on Winter being in the next chapter. Eventually all the characters will be together. At some point I will go more into each new character's back story.**


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